1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable videophone unit which has a camera and a monitor, and which can transmit and receive images and sound using a wireless public network.
2. Description of Related Art
Portable videophone units have been hitherto known which have a camera and a monitor as input and output parts for images and a microphone and a speaker as input and output parts for sound, and which encode images and sound input by the camera and the microphone, respectively, and transmit the encoded images and sound to an opposite party via a public network while receiving encoded images and sound sent by the opposite party and decoding them into images, which are displayed by the monitor, and sound, which is output from the speaker, whereby the user can have a conversation while seeing images from the opposite party.
On the other hand, as automatic response functions of telephone sets, the following have hitherto been known.
(1) A function of a portable telephone unit by which when an incoming call is detected, the portable telephone unit automatically proceeds to an off-hook status and receives a message sent by the opposite party.
(2) A function by which the telephone set automatically responds to the calling party on behalf of the user and records a message when the user is not by the telephone or the user cannot answer the telephone, such as when the user is having a meal at a quiet restaurant, when the user is in a concert hall, or when the user is attending an important meeting. (so called xe2x80x9canswering systemxe2x80x9d)
(3) A function, which is often found on automobile telephone sets, by which when an incoming signal is detected, the telephone set automatically receives the signal, and communication between two parties is made possible.
According to this function, the telephone set proceeds to an off-hook status without the user touching it, and conversation during driving is made possible.
(4) A basic function of facsimile machines, by which when an incoming signal is detected, the telephone line is connected to receive data.
However, none of the above functions realizes smooth two-way communication using images and sound after automatic response.
Moreover, for conventional automatic response functions there is a premise that the telephone set responds to all incoming calls from unspecified general calling parties, and such conventional automatic response functions cannot satisfy users"" desire to permit automatic response only to incoming calls from particular calling parties.
If portable videophone units are provided with a function by which a recipient party""s unit can be remotely controlled by a calling party""s unit, not only smooth two-way communication using images is made possible but also complicated operations of the recipient party""s unit can be carried out by the calling party, even if the recipient party is not accustomed to complicated operations of the portable videophone unit.
In addition, portable videophone units provided with such a function could be used for surveillance purposes.
The present invention was accomplished in view of the above circumstances. An object of the present invention is to provide a portable videophone unit which makes smooth two-way communication possible even with an opposite party who is not accustomed to the operation of portable videophone unit, which automatically responds to an incoming call from a particular calling party to permit two-way communication, and which makes remote control of a recipient party""s unit by a calling party""s unit possible.
In order to achieve the above object, a portable videophone unit according to the present invention comprises an image display section which displays images, a data transmitting-receiving section which transmits image data and sound data to an opposite party""s unit and receives image data and sound data from the opposite party""s unit, and a control section which automatically responds to an incoming call from the opposite party""s unit to allow the transmitting-receiving section to transmit and receive at least the image data.
According to this constitution, the portable videophone unit automatically responds to an incoming call from an opposite party""s unit and can carry out two-way communication by transmitting and receiving at least images, and therefore two-way communication using images can be carried out smoothly even if the recipient party is not accustomed to the operation of this type of portable videophone unit.
The portable videophone unit of the present invention may further comprise an information storage section which stores information for identifying a particular party and a judging section which judges whether or not an incoming call is from the particular party by comparing data received at the time of receiving the incoming call with the information stored in the information storage section, wherein the control section permits the data transmitting-receiving section to transmit and receive data only when the judging section judges that the incoming call is from the particular party.
According to this constitution, two-way communication by automatic response can be carried out selectively in response to an incoming call from a particular calling party.
Therefore, the security of the recipient party can be ensured.
Here, the information for identifying a particular party is the calling party""s telephone number or personal identification number or both types of numbers.
The portable videophone unit of the present invention may comprise an image display section which displays images, a data transmitting-receiving section which transmits image data and sound data to an opposite party""s unit and receives image data and sound data from the opposite party""s unit, an information storage section which stores information for identifying a particular party, a judging section which judges whether or not an incoming call is from the particular party by comparing data received when detecting the incoming call with the information stored in the information storage section, and a control section which permits the portable videophone unit to accept remote control by the opposite party when the judging section judges that the incoming call is from the particular party.
According to this constitution, not only smooth two-way communication using images is made possible, but also complicated operations of the recipient party""s unit can be carried out by the calling party, even if the recipient party is not accustomed to the operation of this type of portable videophone unit.
In addition, portable videophone units can be used as a surveillance system.
Here, the information for identifying a particular party is calling party""s telephone number or personal identification number or both types of numbers.